REVIEW: 7573 Battle of Alamut

[Clone OPatra]

Now even LEGO is selling the Prince of Persia sets, but before I knew that I was heartily surprised to receive…

Set Title: Battle of Alamut

Set #: 7573

Theme: Prince of Persia Sands of Time

Pieces: 821

Minifigures: 7

Camels: 1

Year of Release: 2010

Price at Release: $80

INTRO

From the time I saw the prelims of this set, I thought it looked awesome. The price, though, was higher than I usually spend on a single LEGO set, so I became resolved to read the reviews and look at the pictures and never have it myself.

This week, I had to go to the hospital for a few days. And, as a get well present, I received this set. I can tell you it certainly helped me get on my way to becoming well.

INSTRUCTIONS

I have the box, but I honestly don't think it's the most important thing and it's too big for my studio setup right now anyway. I might add box pics later.

Anyway, you get two pretty thick booklets. Mine were bent terribly, as it seemed as if someone jammed them into the box after all the bags had already gone in.

If you thought the new WIN add was annoying enough on a small set, you've got something not to look forward to: that kid blown up to big size! Luckily, I hid it away with the back of the second booklet.

The inside pages just have some sand lines on tan, a good choice for the theme. Black and dark bley distinction is really bad (what looks like dark bley on this page represent black), but none of the seven numbered bags had one piece in both black and dark bley, so it's not too hard to figure it out.

PARTS

To build a castle, you need bricks, lots of bricks. And so LEGO gives you lots of bricks, and lots of plates too.

Here are two new pieces (I forgot to show the new catapult, but I got it up-close later). Both of these are in Grand Emporium too, I believe, but not in these colors. That's right, that arch piece is in the all new orangy color. I would call it sand dark orange, since it's just a lighter shade of the dark orange found in such sets as the Indian Orient Expedition ones.

What surprised me was the new door. Like the new windows, LEGO has switched over from snapping hooks to standard clips. The new door is also taller, as you can see.

The new door also has a different, but very nice look from the back, whereas the old one was pretty yucky.

These are all the extras after the build. That's right, they give you an extra Dagger of Time and two extra claw accessories!

MINIFIGURES

I like nice parts, but my real favorite is nice minifigures. Oh, how nice these seven are!

First, here are (from left to right) Dastan, Seso, and Alamut Guards. That guard on the left has a face similar to Bruce Wayne, but new. All of these are splendid, and I especially love getting another dark character to add to the African-lineage population of minifigs.

The backs are not left out! I've turned Dastan's hair around so you can see his alternate expression. That katana holder is so nice.

The named Baddies also sport excellent printing. According to the box (not the LEGO catalog), these guys are named (left to right) Gool, Nizam, and Tamah. I love Nizam and Tamah, and while I love Gool's upper body, it kind of seemed to me he showed up to the fight in blue jeans. That's my only gripe with any of these figures.

The Baddies' back printing would make great front printing too; oh, the possibilities. If you'd like a better look at the intricate dark blue on Tamah's back, click (it's quite large).

To get a better look at his stubble and intricately detailed front, here's Tamah with his hat off.

ACCESSORIES

Preparing for the titular battle, the minfigures grab their weapons. Don't know where that axe that Nizam is holding came from? You'll just have to read on…

Yes, that katana is slightly different from the old one. Dastan still sports the old one on the box, but it's got a squarer base where the old one was octagonal.

CAMEL

Fresh out of one of those Chinese factory bags comes the all new LEGO camel, in tan. It's a lovely new addition the LEGO animal kingdom, and I appreciate that while the head has molded detail, the camel is simpler on both sides just like the horse.

From front and back, the camel looks quite cute. Those split toes are an excellent detail.

SET

The build is pretty uninteresting, without any unusual techniques. You just build it up in sections, across seven bags. Building up means a lot of pieces, which gives this set its gracious piece count of 820. It's modular, so I'll show it to you in parts first.

Crossbow-thingy

Remember the original flick-fire missiles in the Batman sets, the ones that had no grab, fell out constantly, and barely worked? They're back! I really have no idea what this cart represents in real fictional life, so I guess it will reming a mystery until the movie comes out. It does somewhat level the odds between the two good guys and five bad guys, I suppose.

Gateway

With all the pieces in this single part, and the completed look of it, I could see LEGO releasing this separately as "Gateway of Alamut." How nice of them not to.

The gateway looks quite imposing, even if the doors don't come together (the one problem). It gives off a superb Middle-Eastern vibe, especially with those white columns. Also note, the fire in this set is back to the old trans orange fire color, as opposed to the newer one that LEGO has been using for a few years. I'm not sure how to describe that too well.

The inside is pretty plain, though the new doors look great. But what are those hinges up above?

Aha, the guards can pour hot oil on intruders! (I didn't make it up, it's in the catalog.)

Then there are two of the new short catapult piece to fire at approaching enemies. I tried these, and they work quite well.

Right Wall

From the box I thought the color scheme of the walls was a bit of mess, but it's grown on me a lot. The solid white acts as a nice smooth base, while the rest reminds me of mud and sandy stone on top. The horns would stop Dastan from running up those studs too fast.

The inside is a bit yukkier, and I was quite perplexed by those technic pieces with tiles on them, since I have no idea what they could be. I didn't expect any detail here, though.

I'm sure you've noticed the moveable tiles in the walls. Depending on how you put them, Gool can either come down on the inside of the wall…

…or the outside.

Left Wall

This one looks very similar, but without the steps. Don't worry, there's a play feature here too.

The inside here is extremely bland, as is too be expected.

But what if Dastan decides to run on the wrong wall segment?

Bam, the guard can knock it out.

Palace

Now the real goodies: the main palace! So much to take in: steps, arches, gold domes… Beautiful!

This back view reveals some features I certainly wasn't aware of from the box.

On the first floor, there are pedestals with some lovely gold work.

In the middle, on a lovely circular base that reminds me of a well, there's a ruby.

But that's not just a ruby, it's a hiding spot for the Dagger of Time!

On the second floor, there is the arms holder where that axe came from. Funny it wasn't shown on the box.

And a cramped throne room, for Nizam I suppose.

Nizam can overlook Alamut well from the balcony.

COMPLETED SET

Time to put the section together to create a thing of real beauty! (Note, I took too many pictures for this section. To peruse them all, check my Flickr set)

The palace part is obviously not as high up as on the box (where it is raised), but from this perspective you can still tell it's nice and tall. The set looks quite exciting from the front.

Putting you in Dastan's shoes, here's what you'll see when trying to get in through the front.

Pretty straight on from the side, you can tell the walls protect Alamut well. It doesn't look too easy to get over those.

The majesty of this set, though, is really best shown looking a bit down on it so you get a view of it all. I originally had some reservation about the color scheme, but looking at the set complete in person makes me love it. The palace's colors are pure and flawless, while the courtyard walls look a bit dirtier, creating an excellent effect.

Viewing from the other side, Alamut it once again magnificent. Truly an unparalleled set in styling.

CONCLUSION

Looking back over LEGO's history, I think that its very best Castles are the ones that don't come out of the Castle line. The Orient Expedition line yielded the great Chinese palace I could imagine, and the Indian Palace was wonderful as well. And now here's a new, Persian-ish styled palace that blows castles like King's Castle Siege out of the water.

This year, it seems like Prince of Persia is the theme that is obviously replacing Indiana Jones. While I liked the Indy line and got just the few sets from it that especially peaked my interest, the one thing that it didn't have going for it was excellent non-vehicle sets. Seems like LEGO made up for that now, with the PoP line based completely on playsets. PoP is certainly a better license choice than Speed Racer, but even if, against all odds, the movie does flop, we'll have at least been blessed with the Alamut.

RATINGS

Minifigures: 9.9/10 - An odd rating, but Gool's blue jeans do tick me off .1. Everything else about these guys is brilliant!

Parts: 10/10 - So many bricks? So much new sand dark orange? Gold domes? I'll take it!

Build: 8.5/10 - Nothing too exciting, and there were a few of those dreaded 2X's. It took a nice long time.

Price: 10/10 - $80 for 821 pieces? YES!

Playability: 10/10 - Stuff to flick, and you can run up the walls. Really, for AFOLs playability might mean looking at the thing on the shelf, and so Alamut is a winner.

Overall: 9.7/10 - Though I got it as a present, I definitely should have gotten it as a present to myself had I not. I would suggest that you should too.

And remember, you get a LEGO camel!

[just2good]

Nice reveiw!

I really like this sets minifigures and aspect, but it's to expensive for me ATM. Maybe in the summer i'll get it or on Christmas. ;) The dagger holder and gold scorpion is awesome aswell.

Edited March 26, 2010 by just2good

[commdr_neyo]

Great review! I love this set!

[CMP]

Nice review, and an EXTRA DAGGER AND CLAWS? Awesome!!!

[Etzel]

Thanks for a wonderful review, Clone O'Patra!

I'm really, really yearning to get this set, I've been drooling over the pictures for months now

All the great minifigs (Nizam's back printing was a wonderful surprise for me), great number of useful pieces and lovely colours! Oh, and a camel, hurray!

You Americans really got a great price for this with only $80!

Definitely a 5 from me.

Now I just have to wait for the PoP sets to start showing up over here. So much to buy...

[Vexxion]

That set looks amazing. A camel? The Dagger of Time? Nizah and Tamah would be nice to get. Along with Dastan himself. Nice review and I can't wait till they show up in stores. 80$ in America. Being up north. We'll have to pay more for it.

[YG-49]

Hey.. That extra dagger might mean the Fight set comes with an extra...

[prateek]

I never get get well soon presents

Anyways, great review! I was a bit iffy about this set, but now I love it

It's so cool that you get extra dagger and claws.

Edited March 26, 2010 by prateek

[sok117]

I hope your feeling better clone'o'patra, the set itself isn't that great IMO, there are no real "features" to me, the figs and accessories on the other hand, well those are terrific.

[not-in-use-anymore]

The barrels at the top of the gate look bad to me... This is still a good set, but that new orange/tan/something color actually makes it look sorta MBish(one of my friends has some Megablocks, and I can see they come in paler colors than Lego bricks) Extra dagger and claws are good.

[def]

I was excited for this set before, and now I am a little more! Thanks for your great review.

[ZO6]

This set is a beauty - a real carnival for the old eyes

I find this set quite appealing overall, however I can't help but feel that something is lacking. It seems kinda stale in terms of play features, there are only a few of them and they are all pretty simple. I would personally liked to have seen a more elaborate trap or two within the palace - for it's size there is little of interest in it save for a handful of accessories and a couple of other details.

I'm sure it will still be a fun set, and as you said it does seem to be more interesting than something from the official Castle theme, but it's still not the complete experience I would have hoped for.

Thanks for the fantastic review!

Edited March 27, 2010 by ZO6

[Kliq]

What a wonderful review! This set looks absolutely amazing. I have the same feeling about it as I felt when the oriental castle came out for the Adventurer's theme. I don't think I'll be collecting much of this theme, but if I do pick out one set to get, this would certainly be it.

One question, and perhaps it has been answered somewhere else but I'll just ask you. Is that a new axe? It almost looks like, when measured from the top of a stud it is about 5 1/2 bricks high, where the old axe is basically 5 bricks high. Any help would be greatly appreciated! :]

[Fugazi]

Thank you for the terrific review! This set is amazing, the colour palette is awesome and the minifig prints are beauuutiful! This is an instant classic, one of those sets you are tempted to buy even if you don't care whatsoever about historical themes!

[TheBrickHitHouse]

What mini figs!!

They can go straight in so many other themes too - a new benchmark for design!

[Rufus]

Thanks for the fantastic review, Cloney! This looks a great set - a woderful selection of pieces, great figs, and the castle design is quite special. I can see I'll have to branch out into another new theme....

Camel....

[Ricecracker]

Great review, as usual!

One thing though; are you sure that the camels are actually made in China? The ostriches from Ostrich Race came in the same style individual bags, yet the box says the parts were made in Denmark, Hungary and Czech Republic. It doesn't matter much to me where they're from, I'm just wondering.

[Pyramid]

I usually never buy licensed sets.

This review has convinced me otherwise.

I HAVE TO GET THIS SET! It looks amazing from your great pictures and descriptions. I'm especially interested in the katana holder.

Thanks for a great review!

[Jar Jar]

I almost fainted! This set is fantastic and I am glad I will get this soon. That camel looks amazing! Nice review!

[1st Lieutenant Jed]

Cool set and excellent review!

-Jed

[ziljin]

I might get this just for the minifigs. Persian Warriors!

[pedro]

Fanatastic review Clone O'Patra and high on my list for this years purchases. I absolutely love the variety of new minifigs, accessories and parts in these Prince of Persia sets; there's so much application for them beyond the set in our MOCs. Your photos do them so much justice, I can't wait to get my hands on them!

Thanks for taking the time to present us this quality set.

[Erdbeereis]

Wow, simply amazing.

I definitely love this set, like you said, it's very different from any other LEGO set I've seen. The minifigs are some of the best I've seen. Thanks Clonie!

[The Green Brick Giant]

Great set, love the new pieces, none of them are lame huge pieces, even the new door is nice.

Loving the camel. :)

[Jack Bricker]

Ah, you beat me to the first review. Oh, well. I will make a review later. I was too busy having fun and building it anyway. Great review. I just got this set built today and it is out of this world. By far one of the best castles/palaces ever built. Again great review of a absolutly spectacular set.